Cody Arlyn Toppert (born January 10, 1983) is a former American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player and current assistant coach for the

LSU Tigers men's basketball The LSU Tigers men's basketball team (aka. The Louisiana State University Tigers team) represents Louisiana State University in NCAA Division I men's college basketball. The Tigers are currently coached by Matt McMahon, after previous coach Wi ...

team in the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities of ...

. At 6'4" (194 cm), he was a left-handed guard who was a strong outside shooter and quick enough to drive past defenders and finish in the lane.

High school career

Toppert was born in

Albuquerque Albuquerque ( ; ), ; kee, Arawageeki; tow, Vakêêke; zun, Alo:ke:k'ya; apj, Gołgéeki'yé. abbreviated ABQ, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico. Its nicknames, The Duke City and Burque, both reference its founding in ...

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...

, and attended the

Albuquerque Academy Albuquerque Academy is an independent, co-educational day school for grades 6-12 located in Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States. It is accredited by the Independent Schools Association of the Southwest

(1998–2001), where he was a two-time USA Today All-American. He was named New Mexico's 2001 Player of the Year, while earning first team all-city, district, and state honors, while twice being named the District Most Valuable Player. During his varsity career, Toppert was invited to play in the

Adidas Adidas AG (; stylized as adidas since 1949) is a German multinational corporation, founded and headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, that designs and manufactures shoes, clothing and accessories. It is the largest sportswear manufactur ...

ABCD Camp The ABCD Basketball Camp was a youth basketball camp founded by Sonny Vaccaro that was held from 1984 to 2006. The camp gathered the highest ranked high school players of the United States, and was considered one of the top events of high school b ...

and was named the top shooting guard at the

Five-Star Basketball Camp Howard Morris Garfinkel (August 1, 1929 – May 7, 2016) was an American high school basketball scout who ran the well-known Five-Star Basketball Camp from 1966 to 2008. Career Garfinkel played high school basketball at Barnard High School in Th ...

. Toppert's father, Bob, mother, Linda, and brother, Chad, all played basketball for the

University of New Mexico The University of New Mexico (UNM; es, Universidad de Nuevo México) is a public research university in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Founded in 1889, it is the state's flagship academic institution and the largest by enrollment, with over 25,400 ...

in Albuquerque.

College career

Toppert went on to star at

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

(2001–2005) where he was a four-year starter under coach Steve Donahue. Toppert was instrumental in laying the foundation for a program that had won just five games the year before he arrived to their eventual berth in the

2008 NCAA Tournament The 2008 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament involved 65 schools playing in a single-elimination tournament to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball as a culmination of the 2007–08 basketball ...

. He finished his college career as 9th all-time at Cornell in career scoring with 1,232 points, second in career three-pointers made (237) behind Ryan Wittman, and second in all-time games played (108). Toppert is sixth in

Ivy League The Ivy League is an American collegiate athletic conference comprising eight private research universities in the Northeastern United States. The term ''Ivy League'' is typically used beyond the sports context to refer to the eight schools ...

history in total three-point field goals made.

Professional career

Upon graduation in 2005, Toppert became the first ever player allocated to the NBDL's Albuquerque Thunderbirds, coached by former

NBA Defensive Player of the Year The NBA's Defensive Player of the Year Award is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) award given since the 1982–83 NBA season to the best defensive player of the regular season. The winner is selected by a panel of 124 sportswrite ...

, Michael Cooper. In his first season, Toppert helped guide the Thunderbirds to their first ever D-League championship. Following his success, Toppert chose to play overseas, where he played in

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

for the

Taranaki Mountainairs The Taranaki Airs are a New Zealand basketball team based in New Plymouth. The Airs compete in the National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at TSB Stadium. For sponsorship reasons, they are known as the Steelformers Airs. Te ...

, leading the league in scoring at 22.1 points per game. He then moved on to

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

, playing in

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

for FC

Barreirense Futebol Clube Barreirense is a Portuguese sports club founded on 11 April 1911. The main sports are football and basketball. In both sports, the club has represented Portugal in European competitions. In basketball, the club won 2 national champ ...

, where he averaged 12.2 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 1.5 steals per game, carrying his club to their first ever appearance in the Cup of Portugal's final four. Toppert also led the organization to its first ever appearance in the final eight of the Taca De Liga Cofidis. Toppert played the 2007–08 season for the

Great Falls Explorers The Great Falls Explorers were a team in the Continental Basketball Association (CBA) founded in 2006. The team played their home games at the Four Seasons Arena in Great Falls, Montana. The franchise was branded 'Explorers' in honor of Lewis a ...

of the CBA under former NBA All-Star Scott Wedman. He averaged 16ppg, 3rpg, 3apg and 1.5spg, and was three times named to the honor roll for CBA Player of the Week. In 2009, he was signed by MEG Göttingen of the German

Basketball Bundesliga The Basketball Bundesliga (BBL) (English language: ''Federal Basketball League''), for sponsorship reasons named easyCredit BBL, is the highest level league of professional club basketball in Germany. The league comprises 18 teams. A BBL season ...

. In January 2010 Toppert moved to BC Wiessenhorn in the second-tier Bundesliga, where he averaged 19 points per game, 6.5 rebounds and 2 assists. In summer 2010, he signed for

Plymouth Raiders The Plymouth Raiders was a professional basketball team based in Plymouth, England. The team competed in the British Basketball League, the country's premier basketball competition. The club was founded in 1983 through a merger between two lo ...

of the

British Basketball League The British Basketball League (BBL) is a men's professional basketball league in Great Britain and represents the highest level of play in the countries. The league is contested by 10 teams from England and Scotland. There are no clubs howeve ...

. After one year in England, Toppert signed for

Club Ourense Baloncesto Club Ourense Baloncesto, S.A.D., more commonly referred to today by its sponsorship name of Río Ourense Termal, is a professional basketball team based in Ourense, Spain. The team currently plays in league LEB Oro. History Founded in 1978 as Club ...

of the

LEB Plata The LEB Plata is the third basketball division of the Spanish basketball league system and the second basketball division organized by the Spanish Basketball Federation. Since 2019, three teams are promoted to LEB Oro and six teams are relegated t ...

, Spanish third division. In February 2012, Toppert signed with

Bàsquet Mallorca Club Bàsquet Mallorquí, also known as Bàsquet Mallorca was a professional basketball team based in Inca, Balearic Islands, Spain. History Bàsquet Mallorca was founded in 2008 as a merger of two teams from Balearic Islands: * Club Bàsquet In ...

of LEB Oro, Spanish second division.

Coaching career

After retiring, Toppert spent two years as the Director of Basketball Development and coach for ELEV, 8 Sports Institute in Delray Beach, Fla., where during the offseason he also trained players preparing for the NBA Pre Draft and international play. Additionally, he coached at numerous camps and clinics across the country, including the NBA Pre Draft Combine in 2013 and 2014. For a brief period of time, Toppert was an assistant coach at

Scottsdale Christian Academy Scottsdale Christian Academy (SCA) is a K-12, private, non-denominational Christian school in Phoenix, Arizona, United States. It is accredited by AdvancEd and the Association of Christian Schools International. Over 98% of Scottsdale Christi ...

. While at ELEV8, Toppert amassed a 101–19 record in 3 seasons. On October 14, 2015, Toppert was hired by the Rio Grande Valley Vipers as an assistant coach. On November 2, 2017, Toppert was named head coach of the

Northern Arizona Suns The Motor City Cruise are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Detroit, Michigan, and are affiliated with the Detroit Pistons. The Cruise play their home games at Wayne State Fieldhouse. The franchise began play a ...

, shortly before the start of their first season in the

NBA G League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) official List of developmental and minor sports leagues, minor league basketball organization. The league was known as the National Basketball Development ...

. In his official G League coaching debut, the Suns lost to the

Agua Caliente Clippers The Ontario Clippers, formerly known as the Agua Caliente Clippers of Ontario, are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Ontario, California, and are affiliated with the Los Angeles Clippers. The team began play in ...

, 126–118. However, during his tenure, he managed to have five Northern Arizona Suns players the chance to enter the NBA (again), three of which being promotions to the

Phoenix Suns The Phoenix Suns are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. They compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Suns are the only team in t ...

. Northern Arizona also made 14.9 three-pointers per game under Toppert, which led the league and would rank 1st in NBA History. After leading the G-League in NBA call-ups in his first season with Northern Arizona, he was promoted to an assistant coaching position with the

. However, after putting up a 19–63 record up in Phoenix under head coach

Igor Kokoškov Igor Stefan Kokoškov ( sr-Cyrl, Игор Стефан Кокошков; born December 17, 1971) is a Serbian professional basketball coach who is an assistant coach for the Brooklyn Nets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He had spen ...

, he was fired alongside the rest of the coaching staff on April 23, 2019. Coach Toppert has worked with 3 NBA All-Stars, 12 players selected in the NBA Draft and developed the 2 highest paid undrafted players in NBA History. On June 10, 2019, Toppert was added as an assistant coach on the Memphis Tigers men's basketball team, replacing Sam Mitchell on head coach

Penny Hardaway Anfernee Deon "Penny" Hardaway (born July 18, 1971) is an American college basketball coach and former professional player who is the head coach of the Memphis Tigers men's basketball team in the American Athletic Conference (AAC). Hardaway pla ...

's staff. The Tigers finished 1st in Opponent FG% on defense, and Toppert supervised the development of James Wiseman and Precious Achiuwa. Toppert supervised and tracked their performance using LUCEO's Sports PD App, which he helped develop in his time with the Suns. Toppert has also created and managed the Tigers analytics program, which is considered to be among the most advanced in college basketball. On June 26, 2020, Toppert was announced as the head coach of

Eberlein Drive Eberlein Drive is an American basketball team that participates in The Basketball Tournament (TBT), an annual winner-take-all single-elimination tournament. The team has participated in the tournament since its 2014 inaugural playing. The roster ...

The Basketball Tournament 2020 The Basketball Tournament 2020 was the seventh edition of The Basketball Tournament (TBT), a 5-on-5, single elimination basketball tournament. The tournament, involving 24 teams, started on July 4 and continued through the championship game on Jul ...

References

External links

Official page

Rio Grande Valley Vipers Official page

How Memphis Basketball Weaponizes Advanced Analytics

Defense! Defense! Tigers finish first nationally

{{DEFAULTSORT:Toppert, Cody 1983 births Living people Albuquerque Thunderbirds players American expatriate basketball people in Bulgaria American expatriate basketball people in Germany American expatriate basketball people in Italy American expatriate basketball people in New Zealand American expatriate basketball people in Portugal American expatriate basketball people in Spain American men's basketball players Barreirense Basket players Basketball coaches from New Mexico Basketball players from Albuquerque, New Mexico Bàsquet Mallorca players BC CSKA Sofia players Club Ourense Baloncesto players Cornell Big Red men's basketball players Fulgor Libertas Forlì players High school basketball coaches in the United States Memphis Tigers men's basketball coaches Northern Arizona Suns coaches Phoenix Suns assistant coaches Plymouth Raiders players Rio Grande Valley Vipers coaches Shooting guards